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A Better Way of Evaluating ERP

Selecting an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution is a major undertaking for any organisation. Many senior executives are battlescarred from previous adventures with ERP implementations, not all of which have lived up to their original expectations or aligned with a vendor’s promises. Enterprises today expect vendors to provide a vision of realistic ERP outcomes, stripped of hyperbole. Meanwhile the advent of the internet and cloud computing has fundamentally changed the way that ERP can be architected and delivered. ERP-asa-service means that customers can subscribe and use the solution without the overheads of heavy capital expenditure. They also free themselves from the burden of having to maintain or upgrade hardware, infrastructure and software as this is handled by the vendor.

Forward thinking vendors are now focussed on ERP solutions that deliver outcomes for the business rather than simply investing in longer feature lists to try to outrun competitors’ systems. This paper provides a framework for evaluating modern ERP that extends beyond a checklist of features and functions, into the more useful and mature territory of ensuring ERP impact...